A provider wants to share a curated dataset with a business partner who does not have a Snowflake account and has no plan to buy one. The provider wants the partner to be able to run SQL queries against the shared data without the provider exporting files or standing up a separate database for them. Which approach lets the provider deliver this access?
- ACreate a reader account from the provider account and attach the share to it, so the partner queries the shared data through a Snowflake account the provider manages and pays for Correct
- BCreate a direct share and grant it to the partner's Snowflake account by its account locator, so the partner mounts the shared database immediately in their own existing account
- CUnload the dataset to an external stage as Parquet files and send the partner a signed URL, so they download the curated data and load it into their own analytics tooling
- DPublish the dataset as a public listing on the Snowflake Marketplace, so any partner can discover the data and consume it without the provider provisioning anything for them
Why A is correct: A reader account is provisioned and billed by the provider so a consumer with no Snowflake account can query the share directly, which is exactly the partner's situation.
Why B is wrong: A direct share to a consumer account requires the partner to already hold a Snowflake account, but the partner here has none, so there is no account locator to grant to.
Why C is wrong: Unloading to files is exactly the export the provider wants to avoid, and it produces a static copy rather than live queryable access to the shared data.
Why D is wrong: A Marketplace listing still requires the consumer to have a Snowflake account to get the data, so it does not serve a partner who has no account at all.